Now that the heavy rains have caused the potholes on our roads to grow into ‘craters’, it is time perhaps to change the name of our city from ‘Greater Hyderabad’ to ‘Crater Hyderabad.’ Though Hyderabad is more than four hundred years old, the engineers responsible for laying and maintenance of our roads do not seem to have learnt how to do it. The government is not to be blamed for it but it is the engineers who do not seem to possess any kind of professional pride. I wonder how they can tolerate being abused everywhere for the condition of the roads they are responsible for. I feel embarassed having such colleagues in the government. I suspect either the municipal engineers must have such poor eye sight that they are unable to spot potholes that are so big they are visible from the sky or they must have done their engineering degrees through a correspondence course.
On the other hand I was extremely pleased to discover that Hyderabad is not the only city where the traffic comes to a standstill when it rains heavily. It happens in Delhi too. I was in Delhi last week and happened to be witness a traffic jam on an important road caused by stagnant water. The day after I landed in Delhi it rained heavily, and the news on television and the papers were full of accounts of traffic jams because of rainwater that had stagnated on the roads. It felt just so much like Hyderabad that for a while I felt at home stuck in that traffic jam.
Another aspect that gladdened my heart was the discovery that the roads in Delhi are no better than those in Hyderabad. Though being the nation’s capital, the roads in Delhi too had potholes. However, Delhi has a long way to go to match the sheer number and variety of potholes one sees on the roads in Hyderabad. The potholes in Hyderabad seem to be the muncipal engineers’ idea of adding variety to our monotonous lives. Not until one of them falls into a pothole and breaks his bones will the engineers realize how bad the roads are. Until then we have to drive around carefully and take care not to disappear into the potholes that seem to grow bigger with every rain.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Welcome to 'Crater Hyderabad'
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4 comments:
Crater Hyderabad indeed! That was good.. but Vinod bhai you cannot dedicate only one piece to Crater Hyderabad. I am looking out for more on the topic. For instance the new flyover opened from Somajiguda to Banjara Hills Road No 1 and 2 had a foot deep puddle at both ends in the rains. How anyone can manage a design that holds water on a flyover is something that beats me. Next time when it rains I invite you to visit the above mentioned flyover which also happens to be the one that crashed during construction. I felt that they could have atleast done the decent thing and named that section of the bridge after the poor software engineer who died in the crash. It would have been an appropriate tribute to that young soul.
Hari, Thank you.
More posts on Crater Hyderabad are in the pipeline. I shall definitely 'inspect' the flyover next time it rains. We have to hand it to our engineers for giving us such landmarks to write about. People in other cities don't get such 'privileges.'
I wouldn't agree with the claim that only Hyderabadis have the privileges of such great designers. I'm sure there are several unsung heroes that don't come into the limelight - its unfair to them. Accuse me of not being biased to my hometown, but thats me. I believe in equal opportunity to all.
Similarly, for the potholes, as you have observed in the case of Delhi, and I can personally vouch for Mumbai - I believe that the municipal corporations all over India strive to maintain a consistent status, contributing in their own small way to equality in the country. A commendable effort.
Phaedra, I have to agree with your claim regarding the roads in Mumbai. At least with regard to roads we Indians seem to share something in common but one must agree that Hyderabad takes the cake. :-)
Vinod
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